"Somehow, the Centaurs seem anxious about this... are you sure it'll be okay?"
As they emerged from the grove and advanced toward the Dragonias headquarters, Vihera asked that question.
Vihera was riding on Set's back together with Rei, but after taking in the situation around them, she had apparently felt compelled to voice her honest doubts.
"Even if you say that, we have no choice but to take the Spirit Egg with us, so they'll just have to get used to it."
Using wood from the settlement, they had constructed a simple portable shrine, placed the Spirit Egg upon it, and were now moving with it in tow.
If one were to simply describe the current state of the Centaurs, that about summed it up.
Naturally, given the circumstances, their travel speed was by no means fast.
It was faster than walking, but compared to the Centaurs' inherent speed, it was inevitably slower.
That was only natural. The Centaurs were carrying the shrine, moving carefully so as not to drop the Spirit Egg enshrined at its center.
...Even so, Rei thought that by continuing to move, they would eventually get used to it.
When Rei was in Japan, he had seen portable shrines featured on TV during festival specials, and he recalled seeing them move at a considerable pace—perhaps partly due to the large number of people carrying them.
In contrast, the ones currently carrying the shrine were Centaurs, whose physical abilities were overwhelmingly superior even compared to Japanese people.
They were not yet accustomed to the act of carrying a portable shrine, but Rei believed that time would solve that.
(Still... even so, it's inevitably slower compared to running normally. The location Anastasia indicated for the Dragonias headquarters was also quite a distance away... annihilating the Dragonias headquarters within today would be a bit difficult.)
For Rei's part, he wanted to settle this matter today if possible.
Above all, now that they had excavated the Spirit Egg, the possibility that Dragonias would come seeking the Spirit power radiating from it—even as soon as tonight—could by no means be denied.
Especially since they were now heading toward the Dragonias headquarters, the likelihood of encountering Dragonias along the way was also higher.
Fortunately, nothing of the sort had happened so far... but there was no guarantee they would never encounter enemies from here on out either.
And the particularly problematic scenario would be when they made camp at night.
Since they had Set as a lookout with overwhelmingly sharp senses, they would be able to detect any approaching Dragonias immediately.
But at the same time, even if they could detect a Dragonias attack, they had no means to prevent it outright.
Fundamentally, since the Dragonias were driven by hunger, even when faced with a being ranked above them—and not just slightly above, but overwhelmingly superior like Set—their attacks would not falter.
If anything, they likely saw Set's massive body as the best means to satisfy their hunger.
(Even if I use Terrain Manipulation to create some defensive walls... it would work against normal Dragonias, but if there's a Commander among them, they'll take tactical action, so it won't be that effective.)
Even at the location where Rei had initially used Terrain Manipulation to create trenches and walls, the assumption had been a swarm of hunger-driven Dragonias without a Commander.
Against such opponents, even if a considerable number of Dragonias attacked, dealing with them would not be difficult.
However, since they had created a reasonable number of exits from the settlement in accordance with the Centaurs' requests, for someone capable of directing the swarm to some extent, exploiting those exits would not be particularly challenging.
"Anastasia, I'll ask just to be sure... there's still a distance to the Dragonias headquarters, right?"
"That's right. Unfortunately, even if we keep going at this pace, I think it'll be difficult to arrive today."
At those words, Rei found himself wondering whether he should just ride Set and go alone.
With Vihera on board, Set couldn't fly.
However, there was also the option of Vihera grabbing onto Set's forelegs and flying through the air.
...The problem was that with the Dragonias headquarters underground, whether they could properly find it on their own.
Given that large numbers of Dragonias were coming and going, the entrance to the underground headquarters was naturally bound to be large.
Since the Dragonias themselves were quite sizable, Rei certainly didn't think the entrance would be small.
(But just because I don't think it would be small doesn't mean we'd be able to find it—that's a separate matter.)
The Dragonias boss... or an entity akin to a Queen Ant or Queen Bee, should naturally be assumed to be intelligent.
The fact that it could produce Dragonias with the intellect to properly devise tactics—such as the golden-scaled, silver-scaled, copper-scaled, and mottled Dragonias—naturally meant that the entity itself must be comparably intelligent.
"In the end, as long as we're taking Anastasia along, we have no choice but to travel slowly, huh?"
"Even if I say slowly, I think we're actually moving at a pretty good pace, you know?"
At Anastasia's words, Rei looked around... and accepted it with a "true enough."
There was no doubt the Centaurs were carrying the Spirit Egg, but since they were not ordinary humans, their travel speed was naturally considerable.
Thinking of it that way, the group's travel speed was by no means slow... As Rei was half-forcing himself to accept this, Set suddenly let out a cry.
"Grrrr!"
It was unmistakably a cry of alarm.
"Dragonias? ...What a nuisance, we just defeated them at the settlement a short while ago."
"Even so, it took some time to depart from the settlement, didn't it? If so, it wouldn't be strange for the Dragonias to make their next move."
Vihera, behind Rei, said this with a somewhat pleased expression.
For Vihera, a group of Dragonias coming meant there was a high possibility that a Commander Dragonias was among them.
Given that, for Vihera—who looked forward to battles against strong enemies—a Dragonias attack was actually exactly what she wanted.
Rei understood that as well, so he didn't bother expressing any particular dissatisfaction with Vihera's attitude.
(That being the case, the question is who goes. ...It'd be me, I suppose.)
Since the Dragonias were coming in a group, Rei, who could wipe them out wholesale, was indispensable as a preemptive strike element.
Furthermore, since the best approach to annihilating the Dragonias would be to cast magic from the sky, Set was also essential.
That being the case, the one staying behind would be Vihera, but...
(That won't work, will it.)
Considering Vihera's demeanor of looking forward to fighting strong enemies, he couldn't exactly ask her to stay behind.
Well, if he did ask her to stay, Vihera would probably remain, albeit reluctantly.
While battles against the Dragonias could be expected to involve strong enemies, it was essentially more like picking off scraps.
For a truly formidable enemy in the truest sense, that would be the battle at the Dragonias headquarters.
Despite that, if Vihera also went off to fight and some harm came to Anastasia or... the Spirit Egg itself, that would be the worst possible outcome.
In the worst-case scenario, they might even have to start over from scratch to find the Dragonias headquarters.
How much time had passed from when they departed Zai's settlement to when they found the Dragonias headquarters?
Thinking about that, even if the enemy was strong, it was clear that it was better to leave the fighting to Rei and have Vihera fall back to guard Anastasia and the Spirit Egg.
(Can't be helped, I guess.)
With visible reluctance, Rei called out to Vihera, who was behind him eagerly anticipating the fight.
"Vihera, sorry, but can I ask you to guard Anastasia and the Spirit Egg? Set and I will go annihilate the Dragonias swarm."
At those words, Vihera started to say something, but... she immediately understood that when it came to fighting the Dragonias, she had no choice but to stay and protect this position.
Many of the Centaurs had improved their abilities through training with Vihera and... occasional mock battles with Rei.
Several of them, starting with Zai, had become strong enough to win against a Dragonias in single combat with a reasonable amount of margin.
But... even so, if the number of Dragonias was large, that changed things.
If it was the same number as the Centaurs or slightly more, they might manage somehow, but if it became twice or three times their number, there was nothing they could do.
After all, Rei and his group were currently heading toward the Dragonias headquarters.
Since they were approaching such a place, it was only natural that the number of Dragonias would increase.
On top of that, those who remained behind couldn't fight freely; they would need to protect Anastasia and the Spirit Egg while fighting.
Naturally, that put the Centaurs—who fought using mobility—at a clear disadvantage.
"Understood."
With evident reluctance, Vihera nodded at Rei's words.
She leaped off Set's back, on which she had been riding, and called out to Zai, who was running nearby, before climbing onto his back.
"Alright then, I'm going to go defeat some Dragonias, so slow down a bit. I'll come back as soon as I'm done. ...Set."
"Grrrr!"
At Rei's words, Set beat its wings from its running position and soared up into the sky.
Once it began flying, Set's travel speed was overwhelmingly faster than the Centaurs, who were matching their pace to the Spirit Egg being carried.
In the blink of an eye, the distance between Set and the Centaurs running on the ground widened...
"Whoa..."
At the sight that appeared before them in less than a few minutes, such a voice inadvertently slipped from Rei's mouth.
It was only natural. Rei had assumed that even if Dragonias attacked, their numbers would be the same as before—several dozen... at most, around a hundred.
However, the number of Dragonias that met Rei's eyes was in the hundreds... Depending on how you looked at it, it was a number that seemed like it might reach a thousand.
"Well now... this is completely unexpected."
Even as he muttered that, Rei could somehow imagine the reason why such a massive number was migrating toward the settlement in the grove.
That was because he felt that what this many Dragonias were after was likely the Spirit Egg.
Considering the current situation of Rei's group, there was almost no mistaking it.
"And on top of that... it's finally making its appearance, huh."
Rei's vision was sharp enough to clearly recognize that the Dragonias at the very rear of the swarm was a golden-scaled Dragonias.
Until now, even when attacking bases, there had only been silver-scaled Dragonias.
Among the Dragonias that attacked the settlement in the grove, there had been a copper-scaled Dragonias, and among the Dragonias swarm Rei encountered, there was a mottled Dragonias leading them, but... a golden-scaled Dragonias had not appeared at all.
And now, here one had appeared...
"It's related to the Spirit Egg after all, isn't it."
Rei couldn't think of any reason other than that for the golden-scaled Dragonias to have appeared.
Well, there may have been some other possibility, but nothing came to mind immediately.
"In any case, the question is what to do about the golden-scaled Dragonias."
Thinking about it normally, it would be better for Rei to defeat it.
Fundamentally, the golden-scaled Dragonias was particularly strong even among Dragonias, and the degree to which it could command normal Dragonias was several ranks above other commanding Dragonias.
...To the extent that it could order a Dragonias to remain on standby even if it meant its own death.
Furthermore, it had been able to deflect the strike of the Twilight Spear that Rei had thrown with all his might—while riding Set in the air rather than on the ground, so the power was inferior—albeit while sustaining significant damage to its scales.
Of course, that was only the golden-scaled Dragonias that Rei had fought.
Even among silver-scaled Dragonias, there was significant individual variation—some excelling in combat prowess, others in command ability—so there was a possibility that golden-scaled Dragonias also had varying abilities depending on the individual.
"In any case, I'd like to leave it to Vihera, but... unfortunately, I don't have that kind of leeway. If I tried something like that in this situation, the Spirit Egg could very well suffer damage."
If Vihera were to fight the golden-scaled Dragonias, Rei would inevitably need to lure it all the way to where the Centaurs were.
But if he did that, the golden-scaled Dragonias might ignore Rei, Set, and Vihera... and head straight for the Spirit Egg it was after.
"At any rate, even to deal with the golden-scaled Dragonias, I need to deal with the other Dragonias first."
Muttering that, Rei drew Death Scythe from his Misty Ring and began chanting a spell.